State lawmaker: Canada doesn't grasp urgency of milk crisis

by The Associated Press

Cows at a Fond du Lac dairy farm on April 6, 2017 (WLUK/Mike Moon)

MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- A state lawmaker says Canadian officials don't appear to have a sense of urgency about helping dozens of Wisconsin dairy farmers who face going out of business after a change in Canada's domestic pricing policy evaporated demand for U.S. milk.

Republican Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald said in a news release that he and other lawmakers spoke to Canadian officials on a Thursday conference call. Fitzgerald says legislators will continue to press the Canadians until they get a good explanation for the policy shift.

Grassland Dairy notified nearly 60 Wisconsin farms this month that the company will stop buying their milk on May 1. Daniel Smith, a state agriculture administrator, said 44 of those farms still haven't found alternatives.